


A Celebration to Remember

by Star_Going_Supernova



Series: human titans 'verse [2]
Category: Godzilla: King of The Monsters (2019)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Birthday Fluff, Dadzilla, F/M, Fluff, Found Family, Human!Godzilla, Human!Mothra, Momthra, Post-Godzilla: King of The Monsters (2019), Tooth-Rotting Fluff, seriously it's about 8300 words of them being the best parents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-04
Updated: 2019-12-06
Packaged: 2021-02-18 08:23:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,344
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21674602
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Star_Going_Supernova/pseuds/Star_Going_Supernova
Summary: After having secured his agreement, Mothra was determined to make this meeting happen if she had to drag him to the Russell’s apartment herself. Thank goodness it had yet to come to that.(Or; Mothra gets her wish and finally gets to introduce Godzilla toher childMaddie. He expects the worst.)
Relationships: Godzilla (Legendary | MonsterVerse) & Madison Russell, Godzilla/Mothra (Kaiju), Mothra & Madison Russell
Series: human titans 'verse [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1565005
Comments: 28
Kudos: 207





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> _Pop Quiz Time:_ I did not plan for this to: a) be so long; b) make them such parents; c) have so much Mothzilla; d) delve into Maddie’s psyche. 
> 
> The answer is e) all of the above. 
> 
> For anyone who asked about having some good ole human!godzilla content, this is for you! Sorry about the delay, technical difficulties prevented me from posting sooner.

Mothra had to be _very_ careful not to laugh, lest Godzilla back out of their little agreement at the perceived slight against him. It wasn’t her fault he was so grumpy about taking a human form, even only for a day or so.

There were a dozen reasons he shouldn’t, or so he claimed. What if something happened that required his presence? What if the humans of Monarch caught on and got some bright idea of exploiting their alternate forms? What if he lost his temper? What if, what if, what if?

 _What if Maddie finds you to be frightening,_ she had eventually interrupted him with. She had always known him better than any other, and his weak excuses and deflections were far from enough to deter her. She was, after all, his Queen.

Godzilla had gone very quiet and very still. He knew, through Mothra, the connection between Emma Russell’s plan and his own presence in San Francisco, all those years ago. And he also knew the role Maddie had played in Ghidorah’s downfall despite it.

 _I don’t care what she thinks of me,_ he had claimed after a rather telling silence. Mothra had merely tilted what the humans would refer to as _a Look_ at him, full of disbelief and disapproval. Perhaps with a tinge of disappointment. Regardless, she had not forced him to admit to his true worry.

Though she didn’t share his reservations in admitting an interest in the brave young girl, she understood his reasoning. Her comprehension, however, didn’t mean she approved. Heaven forbid Godzilla ever be seen as something other than dangerous and prickly and reclusive. It wasn’t as if the whole of the population would lose their healthy respect of him if he deigned to drop his near-perpetual frown. 

It had seemed his determination to remain distant would never allow an introduction.

But today was Maddie’s fourteenth birthday, and Mothra had long ago promised to spend it with her. So, knowing this to be an excellent opportunity, she had finally nudged him into agreeing to accompany her. Mothra knew he’d been wavering for months on whether or not such a meeting would even go well, ever since she herself met Maddie face to face. Well. Human to human.

After having secured his agreement, Mothra was determined to make this meeting happen if she had to drag him to the Russell’s apartment herself. Thank goodness it had yet to come to that.

He walked along beside her down the street, glowering his displeasure. He was taller than her by at least half a head, with broad shoulders and somewhat spiky dark hair. His eyes were as unnatural a blue as her own. They could not have been a better pair of opposites.

No, she had not needed to drag him, but that didn’t mean he would go quietly.

“Enough grumbling,” she finally told him. “You agreed to this—wanted it, no less. Even if!” she briefly raised her voice to keep him from interrupting. His mouth snapped shut. “Even if you refuse to admit as much to yourself.”

He grumbled. “She’s just another human.”

“Yes, yes,” Mothra returned, allowing a bit of her exasperation into her words. “Just another human who risked her life—unprompted and without obligation, I might add—to maneuver Ghidorah into such a position as to ensure his demise. I’m sure you spend as much time asking me about any other human as you do her.”

Godzilla glowered down at her, but there had never been a moment in her life where he was capable of intimidating her—and now was no different. She merely smiled sweetly.

They continued on in pleasant silence for half a block before he dared speak again.

“What’d the kid say when you told her I was coming?”

Mothra laughed lightly. “Nothing, as she is unaware. I think you’ll make quite a nice surprise birthday present, my dear.”

Her King cursed in a language long lost to humanity. “That’s not gonna help, Mothra, how the hell do you think she’ll react to me on her doorstep?”

“You will not scare her,” she said as if it was a plain fact. “I wish you weren’t afraid—”

“I’m not afraid! But she’s a kid and I know I look like I could snap her in two. Why wouldn’t you warn her?”

“Warn her?” Mothra nudged Godzilla down the last street before their destination. “You mean prepare her. That would ruin the surprise, don’t you think?”

“ _Mothra_.”

“Will you trust me on this, my dear? I promise I won’t even gloat once I’ve proved my point.”

He devolved into more grumbling, sending her mild glares every few seconds. However, her words had accomplished her goal: he was curious to know what she meant, therefore distracting him from the fear he would never admit to.

Ah, but he could not hide from her. That he worried about Maddie’s reaction was obvious; less so was his fear of rejection. One of the greatest, most powerful creatures on the planet and today a newly fourteen-year-old girl held the power to hurt him in ways even Ghidorah could never have managed.

Just as they neared the building’s entrance, it jerked open to reveal Mark Russell making his exit. He tossed a bulging duffle onto the pavement and fumbled with a backpack and laptop bag while attempting to close the door behind him.

It seemed Godzilla would have one final obstacle to overcome before he could meet Maddie.

Mothra stepped past Godzilla, who had paused at the sight of the human. “Good morning, Mark,” she called, smiling.

He turned and looked up, his eyes finding her immediately. She could tell the moment he noticed Godzilla, who she knew to be looming behind her. The greeting slid off his tongue into silence, and he gaped in shock. His hands fell still and he blinked rapidly, trying to adjust to this new development.

Luckily, Godzilla didn’t hold this human’s opinion in high regard, as Mark’s reaction was hardly favorable, something between anger-surprise-wariness tensing his shoulders and soaking into the man’s aura. It was easy for her—and likely even Godzilla, despite his lack of ability to sense such things—to feel that Mark wasn’t pleased.

“Mothra,” he bit out, “and… Godzilla, I presume?”

Mothra dipped her head in a regal nod. “I believe you would both benefit from a civil conversation.” She moved toward the door, throwing a stern look over her shoulder. Both men visibly wilted. “Come up when you’re done, my dear. And have a good trip, Mark.”

Only once she was sure she was out of earshot did Mothra allow herself a little giggle. It really did pay to be Queen.

• • •

Godzilla scowled as the door clicked shut behind Mothra, leaving him alone on the sidewalk with Mark Russell. He didn’t have anything specific against the guy, but he was in no mood for small talk. Not that he really ever was, according to Mothra. Gratifyingly, the human looked as uncomfortable with the situation as he himself felt.

“You’re leaving your kid alone on her birthday?” he found himself asking. He suppressed a wince—that sounded more accusing than he’d intended.

Doc Russell tried to met Godzilla’s eyes, but couldn’t seem to manage for more than a few seconds. Instead, he focused somewhere over the Titan’s shoulder. “She doesn’t like making a big deal out of her birthday. Hasn’t since…”

Godzilla was sure the sentence was meant to end in some variation of _since her brother died_. He didn’t bring attention to the absent way the human trailed off, lost in some past memory. Resisting the urge to growl, he glanced at the door. Was that enough of a civil conversation?

Russell apparently managed to gather his nerve enough to ask, “Why are you even here? I didn’t think… Maddie’s never mentioned _you_ stopping by before.”

“Mothra likes to meddle,” was all he was willing to say, the slightest of rumbles slipping into his voice. Godzilla rolled his shoulders, trying to shake the tension out of them. There was nothing to be tense about, no matter what Mothra implied.

The man in front of him looked dissatisfied with that answer. Too bad. Godzilla’s reasons were his own. Instead of pushing, Russell only lifted his head and asked, probably as fiercely as he knew how, “You’re not gonna hurt her, are you?”

Godzilla bared his teeth before he could stop himself. Humans had no natural instincts whatsoever, which meant everything had to be directly addressed. A Titan would never have to ask such a thing. “Do I look like the type to hurt a kid?”

The frustrated human, tellingly, did not answer.

“Oh for—” Godzilla rolled his eyes— “Your kid’s safe from me, got it? There ain’t a Titan alive who would hurt her.”

“Because you all have such upstanding morals when it comes to us little humans?”

“ _No,_ because she challenged the false king.” The scowl on his face felt permanent as he glanced away and muttered, “Not like any of us would purposefully hurt someone to begin with.”

Their enormous sizes were hardly their fault. Just as a human felt little more than a bump if they stepped on a stone or stick, a Titan would hardly notice a car or small building beneath their foot. And the human cities were secondary and the opposite of a priority during a battle. Besides, the humans had no one to blame but themselves for Boston’s destruction. If it weren’t for them and their bomb, Godzilla would’ve finished Ghidorah off much sooner. The slimy coward hadn’t stood a chance in the King’s home turf.

Knowing he would be scolded for tactlessness if he mentioned any of that, Godzilla managed to hold his tongue against digging up old wounds. Maybe if he ever wanted to get under someone’s skin, he could bring their attempted murder of him up.

The human seemed to catch on that he was approaching dangerous territory. After clearing his throat and looking away, Russell asked, “So you’re here to meet Maddie?”

It was the closest to a civil conversation they were probably going to get.

“Yeah.” With Mothra’s voice encouraging him to continue, like one of those shoulder angels humans talked about, he added, “Seems like a good kid. Mothra never really shuts up about her these days.”

A small smile cracked the displeasure on Doc Russell’s face. “Yeah,” he echoed. “Maddie’s always in a good mood after Mothra stops by. It took her a little while to get used to, actually. She couldn’t figure out why someone like Mothra would make such an effort…” He trailed off, shoulders slumping. Godzilla could practically smell the sorrow and regret filling the man’s mind.

Geez, they’d been talking for all of five minutes and they’d managed to hit all of Mark Russell’s weak points. Leaving his kid alone on her birthday, dead son, emotionally neglected daughter being surprised by the new mother-figure’s obvious love for her. At least he’d left the near-destruction of earth alone. Especially since the man’s wife had basically jumpstarted that whole tragedy.

Godzilla wasn’t one for running away, but he was beginning to contemplate the merits of making a swift retreat.

And by the looks of it, he wasn’t the only one thinking it. Russell’s face did something complicated before he fake coughed. “Well, it was… nice. Meeting you. Thanks for… killing Ghidorah.”

It took a lot of effort, but Godzilla managed not to snort. Though he supposed the man couldn’t be blamed for his reaction. It wasn’t like he woke up knowing he’d have to converse with a Titan other than kind, gentle Mothra today.

Even as he thought it, he remembered that Maddie didn’t have any prior warning either. The string of curses in his preferred dead language that ran through his head nearly distracted him from the way Russell turned as if to leave, only to pause.

He got his nerves—not that he had any—under control in time to focus on the way the human spun back to face him, his entire demeanor changed. His shoulders were up and squared, his chin lifted, his eyes firmly meeting Godzilla’s.

Those traces of fear and wariness and awkwardness were gone.

“I might not be much of a threat compared to you,” Russell said lowly. “But if you upset my daughter today or any other day, you’ll have me to answer to.”

So, he had a spine after all.

Godzilla grinned down at him, showing off teeth that were just a bit too sharp to be human. For once, though, the display wasn’t meant to be a threat. It was an acknowledgment from him as an alpha predator to another, a protective father. “I’d expect nothing less,” he said, and, if it wouldn’t necessitate hurting Maddie somehow, he would’ve looked forward to the follow-through.

Mark Russell nodded without flinching, bent to retrieve his duffle, and set off without another word.

It wouldn’t occur to Godzilla until much later, and only once Mothra pointed it out, but the human had essentially given his approval for future interactions between his daughter and the Titan. And, as his Queen would add, Mark knew exactly how Maddie viewed Mothra, as a mother-figure. It wasn’t too much of a stretch for him to think Godzilla would end up taking a similarly corresponding role in the teenage girl’s life.

But that was later. Now, Godzilla only waited a moment before entering the apartment building. He could sense Mothra several floors up and let that guide his trip in the elevator—a truly horrible human contraption.

It wasn’t hard to follow Mothra’s trail to the right door, and he raised his hand to knock. To his immense frustration, however, he felt frozen the moment he tried to rap his knuckles against the wood. He had nothing to fear—he was a Titan, he was the _King_ of Titans, there was no monster out there bigger and badder than him.

So _why_ was his stomach churning with nerves.

She was just a kid, big deal. So what if she freaked out or something? If she did, he could leave earlier than anticipated and not have to spend the day wandering around in human form. Her not wanting anything to do with him would be a _good_ thing.

Godzilla could just see the look on Mothra’s face if he said that out loud. She’d probably even ask who he was trying to convince—ha!—as if he didn’t already entirely believe it. Because he did, obviously. He snarled outwardly at the imagined reaction, and the brief rush of frustration pushed past his hangups to finally knock.

After a moment, footsteps approached the door, and he realized he was still angrily baring his teeth right as the handle began to turn. He dropped the expression into something hopefully a little less rip-your-throat-out without a second to spare.

There were two things Godzilla saw right away, the first being Mothra at the end of a short entry hallway with a little smile on her face, though worry was pinching her brows together. Maybe she wasn’t as confident about this meeting as she’d said. And _oh_ didn’t that make him feel _loads_ better.

The second thing was the girl of the hour, one hand on the inner door handle, looking up at him with wide eyes and surprise dropping her mouth open the barest bit. He could see the exact moment she put together who he was and he reflexively braced himself for the expected negative reaction.

“It’s you,” Maddie whispered instead of screaming in fear. Her eyes shone, not with tears of fright, but excitement. Rather than back away, she took half a step forward, her free hand raising slightly as though she couldn’t help but want to reach for him.

Swallowing around a highly inconvenient lump in his throat, Godzilla managed to nod and say, “Hey, kid.”

The smile that split Maddie’s face was like watching the first rays of sunlight break through the smoke and dust after a city-destroying battle. She took a quick glance back at Mothra, who had her hands clasped beneath her chin. His Queen gave the girl a tiny nod, all apprehension gone from her serene face.

And with that, Maddie turned and darted forward to wrap her arms around Godzilla’s bulky chest, smooshing her face against his shirt. A giddy laugh burst out of her.

Bewildered and—though he would never admit it—a little weak-kneed with relief, Godzilla slowly raised his hands to the kid’s shoulder blades. Mothra gave him a nod of his own, radiating approval, when he dared look.

Maddie wasn’t scared by him. Quite the opposite, it seemed, which meant he’d resisted coming to meet her for nothing.

Though, he admitted to himself, the release of all that worry felt all the better for the relief at being proven wrong.

“Happy birthday,” he said belatedly. “Sorry, uh, for dropping in unannounced—”

She pulled back without fully releasing him. “No! I mean, don’t be sorry. It’s great, I… I’m happy. Are you just here to say hi, or…?”

He’d miscalculated. Badly. And by the look on Mothra’s face, she knew that he knew. _Just another human_ —yeah, right. If she were just another human, he could walk away and never spare a second thought to the kid. Just another human would’ve given him plenty of reasons to.

But the look on her face was cautiously hopeful, like she didn’t want to push him but couldn’t help wanting him to stay. Godzilla could count on one hand the number of humans who hadn’t immediately tried to find a polite way to leave his presence, and most of them were dead.

Mentally fumbling in a situation so far from the norm, Godzilla cleared his throat and said, “I s’pose I can stay.”

The kid was gonna blind him if she kept beaming like that. “Great, awesome, we were—is lunch okay? I had a few things in mind for today, Mothra said she wanted to see what I like to do, but we can change—”

“Hey,” he interrupted her as gently as he could, “whatever you want, right? That’s how birthdays work?”

Maddie looked about ready to deny it, her eyes wide with something he couldn’t recognize. It didn’t have to do with him, though, not with the thousand-yard stare she was falling into.

Mothra finally decided to lend him a hand—this was all her fault anyway, trying to get him to handle an interaction like this—and moved to pull both of them into the apartment. “Maddie, my child, why don’t you finish getting ready? We’ll wait right here.”

The kid nodded and dashed down a different hallway, though not fast enough to prevent Godzilla from seeing the baggy shark-printed pajama pants she was wearing.

As soon as he heard her bedroom door close, Godzilla gave Mothra a dark look. “Are you happy now?”

“I don’t know what you mean, my dear,” she said lightly, though he was well accustomed to detecting the mischief in her bright eyes. “I did tell you enough about her, after all—more than enough, I’m sure, for you to figure out she has a natural charm.”

“I wasn’t expecting—”

“Of course you weren’t. You were so ready for her to cringe away, you never prepared yourself for if she didn’t,” Mothra said smugly.

Godzilla crossed his arms over his chest, something he knew made him look even more ready to rip someone’s spine out, and refused to meet her searching gaze.

“Don’t pout, dear. It’s unbecoming for a King.” She sighed and stepped closer to rest her hand on his arm. “I know it’s easier for you to keep humans at a distance. I myself am guilty of the same, on occasion. But I promise, darling, she will not burn you.”

 _Darling_. She was really serious if she was bringing out the big-gun pet names. He shifted his own hand to grasp hers.

She smiled and he could feel his carefully crafted reservations tremble. His Queen never played fair, but really, it was his fault for falling for it. For her.

“Trust me on this,” she said quietly. “You already want to like her, and I am asking you to give her a chance, a true chance.”

Godzilla closed his eyes and nodded. “All right. I know you wouldn’t like her half as much as you do if the kid was suspicious.”

He looked down in time to watch a wicked smile curl Mothra’s lips. “Here I thought her blatant defiance of Ghidorah was proof enough for you.”

“Eh,” he said, less serious now. “Certainly made her more interesting.”

She had a distinct air of indulgence about her, and he knew she wouldn’t push him any further, not when she had his word. They both knew that if the kid had only been interesting, he wouldn’t have cared so much about her reaction to him. He’d rather shoot himself in the foot with his atomic breath than admit it out loud, but part of his worry—not fear, no matter what she said—had been born from how well Mothra herself got along with Maddie.

It would suck to have to share his favorite person with a human who couldn’t stand the sight of him.

A new thought struck him. After double checking that the kid hadn’t snuck out without them noticing, Godzilla lowered his voice to ask, “What was with the rambles? Kid doesn’t seem like the type to get nervous easily.”

Mothra had to tilt her chin up to meet his eyes, from how close to each other they’d gotten. Neither cared to step back. His Queen, at her most serious, matched his volume to say, “I cannot be sure she’s aware of it, and if she is, I doubt she’ll ever want to discuss it.” She paused, testing the words before she spoke them. “I believe she has a fear of being abandoned, my dear, particularly if she feels she’s being an inconvenience.”

Godzilla narrowed his eyes. No kid should ever have to be afraid of that.

Still quiet, Mothra continued, “I first noticed it during our third meeting. I mistook it as her wanting to please others—as you saw, she was willing to change her plans if—”

“She thought I’d leave if they weren’t to my liking.”

“Yes. But, we watched a movie. She nodded off and… Maddie talks in her sleep.”

“Nightmare?”

Mothra nodded.

Godzilla thought for a second. The bedroom door still hadn’t opened. “Is she actually okay with her dad not being here?”

A tragic smile. “So she says. However, I will never forget the look in her eyes when I offered to spend today with her.”

Godzilla swallowed the fire burning in his throat. He knew enough about the kid, thanks to Mothra, to know where her fear came from. Her dad took off years ago, and even if he’d come back, that stuff left scars on a child. And the mom, noble sacrifice or not, turned away from her daughter to go be killed. Maddie’d watched her mom be chased down by Ghidorah while Godzilla himself had been right there, doing nothing about it. He’d been too little, too late.

“Well then,” he said, finally stepping away from his Queen, knowing the kid would probably be out any second now. “I s’pose it’s our job to give her the best birthday she’s ever had.”

Mothra’s beautiful smile softened the teasing nature of her answer. “Oh, darling, you didn’t stand a chance against her, did you.”

“Takes one to know one,” he muttered as the door down the hall popped open.

Visibly looking like she was trying to keep from bouncing around like an excited puppy, Maddie stopped before them and settled for rocking up on the toes of her sneakers a few times. She was wearing jeans and a printed t-shirt with what was probably a movie reference or something on it, under the dark leather jacket she’d worn in Boston.

He abruptly wondered at how ordinary she seemed on the outside. The world would never look at this kid and know what she’d done for them, what she’d risked. If Ghidorah had been allowed free reign, if he hadn’t been lured to his own destruction…

It didn’t bear thinking about.

“Ready?” Maddie asked, and it was only because Godzilla knew to look for it that he saw the way her fingers curled tightly around the cuffs of her jacket.

He and Mothra shared a glance before she spoke for both of them. “Of course, my child. We’ll follow you wherever you want to go.”

The kid relaxed a bit.

As they left the apartment, Godzilla carefully tossed an arm over Maddie’s shoulders. “You’re gonna have to forgive me, kid. I don’t spend much time in this form, never have, so I’m not what you’d call a model human.”

She laughed, just as he’d hoped. “I think you’re doing pretty good so far,” she said.

From her other side, Mothra laughed as well. “Don’t be surprised if he bares his teeth, my child.” She lowered her voice to a faux whisper and said, “Godzilla is good at many things, but playing a human is not one of them.”

Giggling, Maddie peeked up at him. He grinned back, wider than he should. Godzilla found himself pleased when she didn’t show so much as a hint of uneasiness, and instead only laughed harder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Expect Chapter Two on Friday! 
> 
> I had a lot of fun writing in their POVs, and I hope I did them justice. Kudos and comments fuel me and are much appreciated! 
> 
>   
> [come visit me on tumblr!](https://star-going-supernova.tumblr.com/)


	2. Chapter 2

On Mark Russell’s dime, the trio ended up with a stack of pizzas across town, spreading them over a picnic table overlooking the ocean. Maddie sat with her legs crossed on the bench, a happy crinkle around her eyes as she ate.

Mothra kept checking herself to make sure she wasn’t glowing with the sheer joy warming her heart. It was still early in the day they had planned, but oh, it was going even better than she’d hoped for. Not only was the child relaxed and quite clearly content, but Godzilla had ended up exactly where she had quietly expected.

He was just as enamored with Maddie as Mothra was, and so quickly too. There was no telling when he would be able to admit to it, but she knew he’d fall into a parenting role right alongside her before long.

She was proud of him for taking this chance, and she was confident he would never have reason to regret it. From the first moment Mothra had met her, all the way back in the temple housing her egg, she’d known Maddie was different. Only time had shown how much. Not just any human would reach out with delight to a Titan who had been rampaging only moments before.

Maddie’s laughter brought her back to the present—and it was truly wonderful how much laughing she’d been doing today—in time to watch her oh-so-dignified King practically inhale the crust of his pizza slice.

“I take it you like it?” Maddie asked. She was only halfway through her first slice.

“Kid,” Godzilla said, flipping open the box for a second helping. “I hope you don’t mind that I’ll be finishing off at least one of these on my own.”

“And that’s just the pepperoni.” Maddie gestured with her pizza at the bottom box. “Try the meat lovers.”

“Oh dear,” Mothra said, laughing helpless as she watched Godzilla freeze for a few seconds before shoving everything out of the way. “I fear we’ve created a monster.”

Godzilla could only grumble wordlessly, his mouth too full for anything else. Maddie seemed torn between fascination and disgust at the way he tore through his food. A Titan to the end, no matter the form.

“You better not choke,” Maddie finally said as she took a breadstick from the smallest box on the table. “’Cause I don’t think I could manage the Heimlich maneuver on you.”

Mothra leaned over to Maddie and whispered, “Keep this in mind next time you want to convince him to do something.”

“How do you think he’ll feel about ice cream?” Maddie whispered back, every inch a fellow conspirator.

Eventually, they began to slow down—or rather, _Godzilla_ began to slow down, as Mothra refused to ‘chow down’ as her King so often called it, and Maddie knew all too well the horrors of stomach aches from eating too quickly.

Maddie picked at her half-eaten slice, a memory obviously having overwhelmed her. They both waited patiently for her to either return to them or choose to share. They wouldn’t push her, regardless of her decision.

It proved to be the latter. Just loud enough to be heard, Maddie told them, “I guess you could call this an old tradition. We… only did it for a few years, since,” she absently waved her hand around, “y’know, San Francisco. But, the four of us would go out on our birthdays, mine and Andrew’s, and the birthday kid would pick where we got take-out from.

“We had a picnic table that we thought of as ours, right near a beach. If it was raining, we’d just sit in the car instead. I always wanted pizza. And it was just, it was just our thing, y’know? Mom and Dad would take the whole day off, no matter what, and—breakfast in bed, laze around in our pajamas until lunch at the beach…” She trailed off, and though she was clearly sad, Mothra couldn’t see any tears.

It was the good sort of memory to remember. The kind that hurt without breaking.

“What else’d you do?” Godzilla asked softly.

A fond smile broke through Maddie’s pain, and Mothra’s heart swelled for him, for the effort he was making.

“We’d share silly memories before going for ice cream. The one,” a little huff of laughter escaped, “I shared on Andrew’s twelfth birthday was when he—and, you’ve gotta know, one of his friends had recently fallen off a fence and broke his wrist—and Andrew wanted a cast of his own, ’cause everyone at school thought his friend’s was the coolest thing and they all wanted to sign it, right?

“So Andrew, he takes me out into our backyard and gives me a phone and tells me to call 911 once he started screaming. I was only six, so I sat there and watched him climb a tree as high as he could and just, he just sat on a branch and tipped over backward.”

Godzilla snorted. “Fantastic instincts, huh.”

Maddie giggled as she she continued, “Only thing is, he landed flat on his back. So he just laid there wheezing, and since he wasn’t screaming, I didn’t call for help. He was fine in the end, just bruised and sore, and he didn’t have a single broken bone to show for it. Our parents probably would never have found out if I hadn’t told the story on his birthday.”

Mothra took one of Maddie’s hands in her own. “It’s good you can look back like that, and remember the good times.”

She shrugged, but seemed pleased nonetheless. “I just don’t want to forget, y’know? It hurts sometimes, but, hurting means I still feel. I don’t ever want to be numb.”

“Hey, if we’re carrying on one part of your tradition, might as well do the other,” Godzilla said with a cheeky grin.

“You just met me! And you can’t share something from today!”

Godzilla straightened up with a challenging light in his eyes. Planting his hands on the wood between them, he leaned forward with a hint of fang. “You wanna bet, kid?”

Maddie’s eyes narrowed. She gave a single sharp nod.

Triumphant, he began. “See now, this happened just after I’d been blown up—twice—and I’ve got a bone to pick with ole Three-Heads. I cross an ocean, feelin’ fit to burst with energy, and track down the fake king. He’s got a light show going in the center of some city, and he’s not paying a lick of attention to me. Only reason I didn’t announce my presence sooner, honestly, was I figured I’d see how close I could get before he noticed. But then me and my excellent eyesight pick out this scrappy kid standing in the rubble at Ghidorah’s feet, about to be blown away to kingdom come by that no-good coward.”

Something dark passed over her King’s face, but Mothra didn't interrupt him to offer comfort.

“I charged up, but I knew I wouldn’t be fast enough. I knew he’d hit the human before I could hit him. Imagine my surprise when that kid belts out a roar that would—give me a run for my money, isn’t that what you humans say? And Three-Heads rears back, hesitates for a couple’a seconds, and it’s all the time I need. I blast the coward right off his feet.”

Mothra looked back and forth between Titan and child. Her eyes were wide, zeroed in on Godzilla like she couldn't quite believe what he was saying. And his eyes—for as serious as he was, there was such fondness in them, it nearly took Mothra’s breath away.

But Godzilla wasn't done yet. “And it was all fighting after that, but I remember hoping the kid got away in time. The rest of the story came later, how she baited Three-Heads, hook-line-and-sinker, how she did it alone. And I wanted to meet the brave little human who helped save the world.”

“But I didn’t,” Maddie choked out. Her eyes were wet now. “I—” She glanced at Mothra, and she knew the child was thinking of those conversations they’d had so long ago, time and again, about Maddie’s underserved guilt. She’d gotten past most of it, with both Mothra and Mark’s help, along with a Monarch therapist, but emotions could be tricky, tenacious things.

“You did,” Godzilla said, steady and sure and not giving her doubt so much as an inch. “You delivered Ghidorah to me on a silver platter, kid. You…” he hesitated, but forged on, “you saw San Francisco. You know what happens when I’ve got a ways to go over land. I’m slower, too, can’t be helped. All Ghidorah would’ve needed to do to avoid me is fly inland. We skipped the song and dance and got right down to business because of _you_.”

“Don’t forget,” Mothra added, “that you broadcasting the ORCA resulted in the rest of the Titans being freed from his control.”

Godzilla roughly stood and circled around to their side of the picnic table. He kneeled down next to Maddie—and even then, his height kept him taller than her seated form—and put his hands on her shoulders once she’d turned to face him.

He was a large man. The way his hands covered her shoulders made her look younger than she was. The dichotomy came from the solid set of Maddie’s jaw and the way her eyes, full of pain, tried to harden against herself. Hers might’ve been an old soul, aged by her experiences.

“I know what I’m talking about, kid. I’ve been around for a long time. I thought I’d seen it all, but you—” He gave her a gentle shake, and Mothra suddenly found herself thinking about what a good father he would make. Did make. “You surprised the hell out of me. Roaring right back at him, like a little Titan. You gave me one more thing to fight for.”

“It wasn’t that impressive,” she said, rubbing one of her eyes with the heel of her hand.

“Give it a rest, you know I’m right. You’re a brave kid for baiting Ghidorah like that. Reckless, but brave.”

“I’m not. Anyone coulda done it,” Maddie protested.

Godzilla snorted. “Yeah, maybe. But no one else did. When it came down to the wire, it was you in there, setting the challenge.” Cheeky again, he commanded, “Now, repeat after me: I helped save the world.”

“Nooo,” Maddie whined around a little smile, trying to wiggle out from under his hands.

“I’m not letting you go till you say it.” He glanced at Mothra, mischief radiating from him. “What is it humans do for coercion? Tickling?”

Maddie gasped before Mothra could either confirm or deny anything. “Wait, wait! Let’s not be hasty!”

“Then say it!”

Quietly, Maddie mumbled, “I helped save the world.”

Godzilla tugged her forward and enveloped her in his arms. “And don’t you forget it, Pup.”

There was a single, long moment of silence while all three processed what he’d said.

Mothra, the first to react, pressed her lips together and swallowed her delighted laughter, because for the King of Titans, Godzilla could be remarkably sensitive about being teased on matters of the heart. She watched Maddie’s eyes go very wide before the girl turned her face against his chest in what seemed to be pleased shyness. And Godzilla, oh, he quite literally choked as—to Mothra’s glee—his cheeks violently flushed.

It felt good, not just to see someone else slip past his often ornery walls into his soft heart, but to watch him realize it had happened without him even noticing. Her King could do with more affection in his life.

“I must admit,” she said quietly, so Maddie wouldn’t hear. “I expected you to need longer to reach this point.” She smiled slyly. “Perhaps, the grumpier they are, the faster they go soft?”

He looked nearly panicked, so she took pity. Nodding at the child he’d yet to release, she reassured him, “I hardly think she minds, my dear.”

Godzilla cleared his throat, and then cleared it again when his voice cracked the first time. Maddie pulled back, her own cheeks faintly burning. “So,” she said before things could get awkward. “How about ice cream?”

Mothra stood from the picnic table bench and began to tidy up their mess. “You know I will never refuse trying a new flavor, my child. What do you think Godzilla should have for his first?”

Maddie paused with a handful of crumpled napkins in her hand and scrutinized him with narrowed eyes. “Moose Tracks,” she finally decided. She grinned. “With extra fudge chunks.”

“You’ll like it,” Mothra assured Godzilla. “It remains in my top five choices so far.”

He effortlessly crumpled two pizza boxes together to fit them in the nearby trashcan. “You working to try them all?”

Mothra hummed, too busy watching him fold the last box like it was as flimsy as a piece of paper.

“My favorite ice cream shop isn’t far from here,” she heard Maddie saying. “And it’s not usually too busy at this time of day.”

She snapped out of it only when Godzilla smirked down at her and asked, “Ready?”

“Oh, hush,” she said, lightly slapping his arm. It was hardly her fault her King made such a good human, when he bothered.

They started off down the wide sidewalk, Maddie once again in the middle. She answered their questions about how she’d been doing between Mothra’s visits, how she was handling her online school courses—her haphazard education in isolated Monarch outposts left her ahead in some areas and behind in others—and other mundane topics.

“As nice as it was to have time to relax and be normal, I’m going I little crazy,” she admitted. “Maybe I’m just so used to all the crazy parts of Monarch, I dunno. I’ve been trying to convince Dad to let me stay at an outpost for a while.”

“Alone?” Mothra asked.

She shrugged. “Not really. I got to know a lot of people thanks to my mom. I’ve been keeping up with most of them through emails.” Her smile turned sly. “Don’t tell anyone—especially my dad, ’cause it’s meant to be a surprise—but I’ve been working on some stuff with a couple friends, and we want to try sort of reverse engineering the ORCA to make it do the opposite.”

Godzilla frowned. “The opposite?”

“Yeah!” Maddie skipped ahead a few steps so she could turn and face them, walking backwards without missing a beat. “So instead of outputting signals, it would read them. Things like moods. Your guys’ vocalizations tell us a lot about you—or at least, they would, if we bothered to learn your language, so to speak. Castle Bravo’s already one step ahead. Their systems break down your bioacoustics down enough to know the difference between you patrolling for food, or out of boredom.”

Mothra couldn’t help but laugh at the shock on her King’s face. “It sounds like a wonderful idea, Maddie. Did you come up with it on your own?”

The child returned to her place between the King and Queen of Titans. Jamming her hands in her jacket pockets, she watched her feet. “No, I kinda got the idea from something Dr. Serizawa told me once. I remember it so well, because I knew my mom was working on the ORCA and… it contradicted what he told me.”

Looking up again, eyes lost in a memory, Maddie said with the tone of a person quoting someone else, “The biggest barrier between humans and Titans coexisting isn’t the difference in communication. It’s humanity’s unwillingness to listen.”

The three of them walked in silence for a bit, turning those words over in their heads. Pride bubbled in Mothra’s heart. Godzilla seemed to be having similar feelings, because he dropped his hand on Maddie’s head and lightly tousled her hair.

“I can’t think of anyone better to pull that off, Pup.”

Oh, her heart was fit to burst from so much pride in her loved ones in that moment. After his slip earlier, Mothra knew her King wouldn’t make it again. To repeat the nickname now was completely and wholly intentional.

Maddie bit her lip, trying to contain a wild smile. “Thanks,” she said, her voice only shaking a little. “That actually means a lot.”

Mothra reached out and rested her hand on Maddie’s shoulder. “If there’s ever anything we can do to help, please let us know.”

The child nodded, and by then they were at the ice cream shop. The first time Maddie had ever brought her there was an experience she’d never forgotten, and it was a joy to see Maddie go through it again with Godzilla. He gladly took Maddie’s suggestion and then had the poor girl wheezing as he quietly guessed what each of the more unusual sounding or looking flavors would taste like.

He egged her on when she was choosing toppings for her own treat, arguing that she should go all out since it was her birthday—and no, it had nothing to do with him wanting to sneak a gummy bear later.

Mothra couldn’t even find it in herself to be bothered when Godzilla accidentally-on-purpose showed his fangs in a rather wicked smile at a man who he caught eyeing Maddie. Recognizable as the King of Titans or not, the mere sight of Godzilla’s human form had most self-preserving people veering away. Being the focus of his dangerous ire sent the man into a pallor more fitting for a corpse.

By the time they’d found a new picnic table to sit at, Maddie was rubbing at her cheeks, complaining of them aching from smiling and laughing so much. Between Mothra and Godzilla, they were more than happy to keep it up until she was clutching her stomach.

And for the record, Godzilla stole much more from Maddie’s impressive concoction than a simple gummy bear.

• • •

Star-gazing at the end of a long, exciting afternoon probably hadn’t been the best idea, in terms of staying awake. Godzilla had looked over after a long silence on the kid’s part, after she’d told a story about one of the constellations above them, only to find Maddie sound asleep.

He’d peeked past her to Mothra, who smiled and quietly suggested they wait a little to see if she’d wake up on her own.

She hadn’t, and Godzilla wasn’t heartless, okay? He wasn’t gonna shake the kid awake and make her walk several blocks from the park—the one where Mothra had first approached Maddie in her human form—to her apartment. So that’s how he ended up carrying the kid.

She was so _tiny_. How hadn’t he noticed before? Yeah, the top of her head barely reached his shoulders, and he was by no means a skinny human, but this—this was ridiculous. The way she was nearly weightless in his arms, curled inward so her face pressed just above his collarbone, nearly had him asking his Queen if a human was supposed to be like this.

Godzilla kept his steps slow and steady, so she wouldn’t be jostled too badly. Mothra was nibbling at her lip, a sure sign that she had something to say.

He sighed as loudly as he dared.

Taking the hint, thank goodness, Mothra said, “You looked surprised when you picked her up.”

“She’s light. And small.”

“She’s a child.”

He rolled his eyes. “You don’t have to remind me. But…” He glanced down. She was still out. “Feels like I could break her, Mothra. Without even trying, too, what the hell am I doing, _carrying_ her—I could—”

“Calm down, my dear. I know humans seem unreasonably delicate, but I know you know they are hardier than they look.”

“This isn’t about how they look!” he whisper-shouted. Maddie didn’t so much as stir. “This is about how it feels like I’ll pop her spine out if I squeeze a little—”

Mothra’s laughter made him break off. She sounded as if she’d just realized something.

“I understand,” she said, and there was something in her voice that made Godzilla wary. “It’s a common phenomenon, I believe, amongst humans. A feeling of worry regarding how easy it might be to hurt their child. Most common in first time parents, if I’m not mistaken. Though Maddie isn’t a baby, it doesn’t surprise me that you’d experience this.”

He wasn’t proud of it, but Godzilla spluttered nonsensically. “You—”

His Queen, his beautiful, diabolical Queen, smiled sweetly up at him. “You should trust in your instincts towards your Pup, Godzilla. I doubt they’ll fail you.”

At first, he thought she started walking faster to get ahead of him, but then he realized he’d come to a complete stop. And all the while, he also realized, his grip on the kid hadn’t so much as loosened. Or tightened, for that matter. Which meant Mothra was probably right about that instincts thing. She usually was.

And honestly, wasn’t like he could prevent it. Godzilla started walking again, falling back into a smooth and steady pace without even thinking about it. No, his thoughts were elsewhere. Like how good a kid Maddie was.

Mothra was waiting at the apartment building, holding the door open with a distinctly smug expression. Her eyes glowed in the ever darkening street.

“You didn’t deny it,” she pointed out as he slid sideways through the door, careful to keep the kid from hitting anything.

Well, two could play at that game. “Nothing to deny, is there.” He grinned at the noise she made behind him. Almost surprised, but pleasantly so.

They made it into the Russells' empty apartment without any trouble. Not knowing where to go from there, Godzilla followed after Mothra’s beckoning gesture. He stood, feeling oversized and out of place, in the kid’s bedroom as his Queen pulled the covers on her bed back.

Godzilla patiently shifted Maddie as directed while Mothra pulled off her shoes and jacket until he was given the go ahead to lay her down. He retreated into the dark living room while Mothra finished up, but only after brushing the kid’s bangs back and holding his palm on her forehead for a moment.

It wasn’t long until Mothra joined him, shutting the door with a near inaudible click, but it was more than enough time for him to consider something. He didn’t move from his position on the couch, his head propped on a pillow at one end and his feet hanging a little bit off the other.

“Ready to go?” Mothra asked, leaning over the back of the couch.

“I was thinking,” he said, “that no kid deserves to wake up on the day after their birthday to an empty home.”

The smile he was gifted with more than made up for the likely uncomfortable night he had ahead of him. That Mothra consented to join him on his makeshift bed doubly so.

And in the morning, with his Queen still asleep against his chest, Godzilla was woken by the quiet creak of Maddie’s door opening. He opened his eyes just in time to see the look on Maddie’s face, the surprise-disbelief- _pure-joy_ , and knew without a doubt he’d be willing to suffer the stiff joints over and over, just to see that look again.

However long it took, he’d prove to Pup that she would never need to be afraid of being a burden or inconvenience to him, never need to fear being abandoned by the King of Titans. Whether that meant chasing out her home’s silence with messily made pancakes and stories of old, or—as he would come to learn over time—being there to hold her after her worst nightmares came calling, or watching long-forgotten movies with her that she hadn’t picked up in years, or carrying her on his shoulders so she had the best view of the parade or fireworks or stage… he would.

He would even agree to a Christmas dinner with Doc Russell, and somewhere along the way, Maddie’s shoulders would stop tensing when she suggested something. She would be quick to hug, both him and Mothra, and was never the first to let go.

But that would come later. Now, he grinned at his surprised, bed-headed Pup and said, “What, did you think we would leave without saying goodbye?”

And Maddie’s eyes, for as human as she was, all but glowed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and kudos let me know what you guys like for future reference! Any and all are super appreciated, and I promise I don't bite! 
> 
> [my tumblr](https://star-going-supernova.tumblr.com/)


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